Viborg FF v West Ham United
UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round second leg, Energi Viborg Arena, Thursday 25 August, 7pm CEST (6pm BST)
West Ham United continue their quest for a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage with a play-off round second-leg tie with Viborg FF on Thursday evening.
David Moyes' side arrive in Denmark leading 3-1 from the first leg at London Stadium, thanks to goals from Gianluca Scamacca, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio, while Jacob Bonde netted for Viborg.
The Hammers are in Europe for the second consecutive season, having reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals last term, and hopes are high that the east Londoners can put together another extended continental challenge in 2022/23.
West Ham are entering at this stage, while Viborg have already got past Lithuanian opponents Sūduva (2-0 on aggregate) and Faroe Islands Cup winners B36 Tórshavn (5-1 on aggregate) to set up their meeting with the Irons.
A 1,100-strong Claret and Blue Army will descend upon Viborg's 9,600 capacity Energi Viborg Arena on Thursday evening, with a capacity crowd and a lively atmosphere expected.
Match information…
Should Viborg win by two clear goals and the tie finish level on aggregate, extra-time will be played. Should the scores remain level, a penalty shootout will take place. There are NO away goals in the UEFA Conference League this season.
There will also be NO goal-line technology or VAR in operation at the Energi Viborg Stadium on Thursday evening.
Should we win on aggregate or on penalties, we will join 21 other UECL play-off round winners and ten clubs eliminated from the Europa League play-off round in the group stage. There, we will face three group-stage opponents home and away. The draw for the group stage will be held in Istanbul on Friday afternoon.
The UECL final will be hosted at Slavia Prague’s Fortuna Arena in the Czech Republic on 7 June next year.
Tickets…
Our allocation of 1,100 tickets have sold out to the Claret and Blue Army.
Seats are on General Sale for our home Premier League fixtures with Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, and on sale to Bondholders, Claret Members, Season Ticket Holders now and, from 3pm on Wednesday 24 August, on General Sale.
How To Follow…
Thursday's tie will be broadcast live in the UK by Premier Sports. More information on how to watch can be found by clicking here.
You can also follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle.
Travel...
Viborg itself does not have an airport, so you will need to fly into one of the three situated within driving distance.
Around 60 miles south of Viborg, Billund is most famous for LEGOLAND, but also has an international airport with direct Ryanair flights from London Stansted.
About the same distance to the north east of Viborg is Aalborg, which can be accessed via short stopover in a number of European cities, depending on which airline you use. Norwegian flies from Gatwick via Copenhagen, while KLM flies from Heathrow via Amsterdam.
And to complete a hat-trick, Aarhus airport is situated around 60 miles east of Viborg. Direct flights are available from Stansted with Ryanair.
From all three, you can take a taxi, hire a car or try your luck on the Danish long distance bus network. There is a direct train to Aarhus, but the airport is another 50-minute train journey from the city!
Click here to read our full Over Land and Sea... guide for travelling fans!
Team News...
New signing Emerson Palmieri is not eligible for Thursday's second-leg tie in Denmark. Declan Rice is also unavailable as he serves the second game of a two-match European ban.
Morocco centre-back Nayef Aguerd suffered an ankle injury in the pre-season match at Rangers and has been ruled out for an extended period.
However, Aaron Cresswell is available again after serving his one-match suspension - as is manager David Moyes - and centre-back Craig Dawson is getting closer to making his return from injury.
Viborg will welcome back Ibrahim Said and Alassana Jatta, who missed the first leg in London due to visa issues.
Opposition…
Viborg FF was formed in 1896 as a multi-sports club, with sections for athletics, gymnastics, boxing, weightlifting, skiing, hockey, wrestling and even cricket.
The football section was introduced a few years later, with the club’s first major success coming in 1924, when Viborg won the Mesterräkken, the biggest competition on Denmark’s Jutland peninsula at the time.
Viborg remained an amateur club and competed in the regional leagues for the next 35 years before moving up to the newly formed 4th Division in 1959.
In 1981, the Greens reached the top-flight – then called the 1st Division – for the first time in their history, but finished bottom with just 15 points and were relegated after just one season. The same happened in 1990, when Viborg finished bottom again, this time with just 14 points.
The Greens returned to the top tier – now called the Superliga – as champions in 1997/98, edging out B93 on goal difference.
In 1999, the club moved to full-time professionalism, with instant results, as Viborg finished fourth in the Superliga and won the Danish Cup for the first time in their history the following summer, defeating Aalborg 1-0 in the final at Parken Stadium in the capital, Copenhagen, in front of over 18,000 fans.
The Danish Super Cup followed in July 2000, courtesy of a penalty shootout win over Herfølge, before Viborg scored a surprise 1-0 aggregate victory over Russian Top Division side CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Cup first round, before bowing out to Spanish club Rayo Vallecano on away goals.
With those successes still fresh in minds, Viborg established an academy, FK Viborg, in 2002, linking Viborg FF with a number of local youth clubs to provide a pathway to the senior team and professional football.
Among the first youngsters to join FK Viborg was current Tottenham Hotspur and Wales defender Ben Davies, whose family lived in the town between 2001-04.
Back to senior level and Viborg have experienced plenty of ups and downs over the past 15 years. They were relegated in 2008, promoted in 2013, relegated in 2014, promoted in 2015, relegated again in 2017 and promoted back to the Superliga as champions in 2021.
Last season, Viborg finished seventh, meaning they had to contend with a ten-match relegation round. However, by topping that table, their reward was a one-off European play-off with Aalborg, which the Greens won on penalties to qualify for this season’s UEFA Europa Conference League.
The second qualifying round saw Viborg drawn to face Lithuanian opponents Sūduva, where a goal in each leg from Danish midfielder Sofus Berger and Nigerian forward Ibrahim Said saw them earn a 2-0 aggregate victory. That set up a third qualifying round tie with Faroe Islands Cup winners B36 Tórshavn, who proved to be no match for Viborg across two legs.
Match Officials
Referee: Harald Lechner (AUT)
Assistant Referees: Andreas Heidenreich (AUT) & Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Fourth Official: Markus Hameter (AUT)
Thursday's referee is 40-year-old Austrian Harald Lechner, who will lead a team of officials from the same country.
Born in Vienna, Lechner has refereed in the Austrian Bundesliga since 2008 and been on the FIFA list since 2010. He is a UEFA First Category referee - one of only two from Austria.
